Veteran Police Officer first African American Female to Retire from
the Fairfax County Police Department

Agency Makes Strides in Diverse
Hiring

A
West Virginia native, the youngest of seven, Annie Mack-Evans grew up
knowing that her life’s calling was to “Do all you can do and leave the
outcome to God.”

Mack-Evans
joined the Fairfax County Police Department in 1984, after graduating
from Fairmont State College. She recognized that her future must be
shaped around her essential core values; teaching, coaching, mentoring
and helping others.

As
her career as an FCPD officer now ebbs, she recognizes that she was
fortunate and blessed to have been able to serve in those capacities over
the past 28 years.

As
a “teacher” within the FCPD, Annie taught First Aid, Defensive Tactics,
Radar/LIDAR, Rape Aggression Defense and a host of other courses. She’s
worked in traffic safety education, served as a school resource officer,
instructed school safety patrols across the county, and been a squad
leader and recruit training instructor at the Fairfax County Criminal
Justice Academy. Her last stop with the FCPD began in 2002 and lasted
until 2012 in Human Resources Recruitment, where she drew aspiring police
officers to the agency and taught them about what made her department
special, unique and different. She nurtured partnerships with the nine
criminal justice academies housed within the Fairfax County Public
Schools, recognizing that these students were the hope and future of the
FCPD. The diverse look of these students is something Mack-Evans and her
recruitment unit colleagues worked hard to attract to the agency.

“We
recognize the importance of our agency to reflect an appropriate, diverse
make-up of individuals. Even though I am only the first black woman
officer to retire from the agency, my legacy I leave behind shows there
will be many others to follow,” says Mack-Evans. “In addition to so many
others; the first Korean, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern officers will
follow me.”

Presently,
the FCPD is comprised of approximately 1,315 sworn staff. Of those, black
females make up just 1.21 percent. Mack-Evans and her colleagues
recognize that many cultures and ethnicities may hold a bias against
family members becoming officers based on experiences they or their
families had in other parts of the world. “We’ve still got a long way to
go to help build minority candidate interest in the FCPD. We have top
quality personnel but we are always on the lookout for more.”

“For
someone who is looking for a career where they can truly impact the lives
of others and want to feel like they’ve made a difference, there’s no
better place than the FCPD.”

Annie Mack-Evans
Assisting
FCPD candidates in the classroom
Mack-Evans
and recruitment colleagues are on the road

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